About the author: "Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related."

Really? After 25 years you'd think she knows what the word "beta" means. This isn't the first time she's put her foot in her mouth. She hates Windows 8 and is bound and determined to provide as much negative feedback as she can.

I stand corrected on who wrote the material. However I stand by my other comments. First, the fact that she commented on the article at the beginning tells me she's at least somewhat in agreement with the points made. I pretty much dispute everything in the article though. Its beta software and the article is written as if every detail of what being panned is the final output. Metro apps are currently only stubs and very incomplete. Anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention. Likewise with IE 10. Remember how crappy IE 7 seemed when it was in beta? Quite honestly I hated it. The production product turned out to be pretty decent. So why bash a browser that's not even complete? Its like a car magazine getting a pre-production copy of the Cadillac CTSv and bashing it because the unfinished suspension design isn't as responsive as it could be. No kidding? You think?

As far as the notion that the author wants more "information density" as he calls it, I disagree. We are often presented with too much information. Simplifying it make it much easier to digest. Do we really need to pack more on a small tablet screen?

I think there will be little motivation for current users of Win7 to upgrade to 8. I think 8 is going to be a fantastic tablet OS, and pretty decent on the desktop. More important, I think Windows 8 & Server 2012 are going be the best backbone ever for a corporate/enterprise network. Of course the article, like my comments, is merely opinion and in the grand scheme of things means very little.

I think the reasoning behind some of the criticism is nothing short of ridiculous. Picking just an example, my current twitter client, on Windows 7, shows me 8 tweets (1280x1024 screen). Much more would be unbearable. How come that is bad in Windows 8?

I own a Nokia Lumia Windows phone, so I use a production Metro interface every single day. I really enjoy the interface. How it will work for desktops and non touch enabled laptops remains to be seen, but I am sure Metro will be great on laptops, because it is already great on phones, with much smaller screens.

Chuck, I respect your opinion but I disagree. I think the points made in the article are valid. I've agreed and disagreed with Mary Jo's articles but I think she has had a balanced view of Microsoft products. I recently purchased an Ipad, my first and only Apple product. Unlike Metro, I found it very intuitive to use. No hidden hotspots to hunt for or trigger accidentally. Honestly, I don't understand why the hotspots don't have an icon to identify them so you can avoid them or use them when you want them. I also think that the Ipad has better information density without having too much information as you suggest.

Overall, I find that Windows 8 has some good points and some bad points, but personally The bad ones outweigh the positives. I have been advising my clients that are considering a new PC to get one before Windows 8 comes out so they can get one with Windows 7. I will get a version of windows 8 for my laptop so I will be able to support it but my main PC will remain with Windows 7. As for tablets, I would recommend an Ipad over a Windows 8 version.

Jerry I'm with you on the hotspot thing. I don't think its going to break Metro on tablets, but its certainly not intuitive for a desktop. I personally have not used Metro on a touch screen but have talked to several people who have. Everyone of them to a "T" says that its as intuitive as as an iPad. The problem I find with some reviewers and many others who've downloaded the beta is that they are judging much of what they see on a desktop and not on a tablet.

Do you support business customers? If I did consulting, I personally could not recommend an iPad for business (or an Android tablet for that matter) use simply because its a consumer device and is very insecure. Lose one with proprietary data on it, and you've just given away business secrets. We don't allow them in our environment simply because there is no good way to protect data saved to them.

As for ease of use, an iPad is a great device, as are some Android tablets, but the need for more powerful computing than a traditional tablet can offer gives Windows 8 an important edge in appealing to business customers. I'm looking forward to hybrid devices that will run 8. I doubt very much that Apple is going to try anything similar. Microsoft is continuing to do something they've always been very good at and that's make business oriented software and OSes first and foremost. Apple has never played well in that space, nor do they want to. 2013 is going to be very interesting in the computing world. When all is said and done, consumers win.

I do have some business customers but they are all just desktop users. As I said, the Ipad was my first apple product and I am by no means an expert on its usage. I have read of several business usage of the Ipad and it's growing. Some restaurants use the Ipad for order taking and I have read of one airline that uses it for manual storage for the pilots. Are you aware of Apple's data protection feature? ( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4175 )

Personally, I think Apple has too big a lead in the Tablet field and Windows tablets will be a niche product just like the Windows phone and the Android tablets. I just wish that Microsoft had split development of a tablet OS and a desktop OS instead of combining them into what is essentially one product that will please neither use. I guess we have have to agree to disagree on this and see how it all plays out. I could be wrong. Maybe Metro will be a hit. When Apple first released the Ipad, I thought that few people would buy it because I thought you would get more functionality for less with a Windows laptop. I was wrong there.

Gentlemen, this is still an early beta release. Why don't we wait and see just what the Win 8 RP looks like in early June. My guess is that much of the work since Feb 29th has gone into the Metro apps. From my perspective that's too bad because there are tons of desktop users that might feel short changed. For desktop users, I have not made up my mind yet. A lot depends on price, but I do like the desktop IE 10 and I do like the better memory management and the speed with which this OS seems to respond to my needs. Will it replace my Win 7. I am still in the wait and see category. It's still early.

I am eagerly awaiting the release of Win 8 RP. As soon as I can download that iso file I will burn it to DVD and Clean Install it directly over Win 8 CP and start customizing. I do not anticipate using the Metro UI much more than I do now as I do not have a Tablet or touch enabled PC. I do however expect to continue testing this fine OS almost 100% of the time until I determine just what I will be doing.

Yes I am. And unfortunately is actually pretty easy to crack. I attended a mobile security presentation a while back by Kurt Roemer, Chief Security Strategist of Citrix. Citrix has a BYOC program. Mr. Roemer uses all Apple; an iPad, iPhone, and a MacBook Air. He advised to never, ever store sensitive data on an iPad or iPhone or Android powered device. I did a bit of research after the fact and found that's pretty good advice. This is why companies like Mobile Iron exist.